Apparatus fob body treatment



W. E. BRENNAN.

APPARATUS FOR BODY TREATMENT.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT-2| 1914- 1,305,439. Patented June 3,1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

. E. BRENNAN. APPARATUS FOR 500v TREATMENT.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT-21.1914.

Patented June 3, 1919.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIOE.

WILLIAM E. BRENNAN, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, AssIeNon TO THE REDUCING M CHINE comm, OF'GHIGAGO, ILLINoIs.

APPARATUS FOR BODY TREATMENT.

- Specification 01' Letters Patent.

Patented June 3, 1919.

Application filed September 21, 1914. Serial No. 862,798.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM E. BRENNAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Body Treatment, of which the following is a speclfication.

Various machines have heretofore been proposed or used for the purpose of giving mechanical massage treatments. Such machines are especiall applicable for the pur pose of reducing t e size or weight of the persons acted upon, or for giving treatments Where increased circulation is beneficial. One of such machines, which has now been in operation for some time, is more particularly shown in the Patent No. 1,134,084, issued to James P. Gardner March 30, 1915, for body treatment machine.

I have discovered that the application of heat to a person being treated in such machines is very desirable for various reasons. For instance, in treatments for reducing the size or weight of a person, the action is much more efiective and results are more readily obtained than with the machine alone.

This invention relates particularly to the process of body treatment which consists in applying heat and pressure or massaging action to the body simultaneously, and to means for carrying out such process. The objects, as will be readily understood from the above remarks, are in general, to provide an improved process or treatment; to provide means for heating a person while being acted upon by the massage machine; and to provide such novel features and improvements as will appear more fully from the following description.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating this invention: 7

Figure 1 is a front view of a massage machine with my improved apparatus attached thereto, and showing the method of applying the same for treatments;

Fig. 2 is a plan View of the heating apparatus;

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view of the heating apparatus; and

Fig. 4 is a detail of the clamping device used for holding the gown or sack in position.

As illustrated in these drawings, 5 represents in general a massage machine such as illustrated and described in the applications aboveset forth. As the present lnvention does not relate to such machine in particular, it is not necessary to describe it in detail, but such machines are provided with rollers 6, which are mounted on chain belts 7, means being provided for driving such belts, and means also being provided whereby the belts may be adjusted so as to bring the rollers in contact with substantially the entire circumference of a person. Such machine is also provided with an adjustable platform 8, on which the person stands to be treated. My invention relates in general to the rovision of means for heating-the person w ile being treated in machines of this character. While the exact mechanism or apparatus for providing such heat may be arranged indifferent ways, I have illustrated a preferred form of such apparatus, which I have found to be highly successful in operation. This which is secured by means of clips 10 to they platform 8. Such casing is preferably cylindrical at the upper end, and is provided with an outwardly flaring bottom portion 11 for receiving the heating devices. Any suitable heating device may be used, but, I prefer to use electric heating coils or elements 12, which may be connected in series, as indicated in the drawings, and are supplied through supply wires 14 and 15, from' any suitable source of electric supply. The casing 9 is provided with a door 13to permit easy access thereto. A cylinder 16 is secured centrally within the casing 9 and serves to protect the lower portion of the limbs of the person standing therein. This cylinder is preferably made with double walls 17 and 18 to provide insulation from the surrounding heat, and is also preferably lined with asbestos or similar non-conducting material, such as indicated at '19. The cylinder 16 is also provided With a 'door 20, in alinement with the door 13, for the purpose of allowing the person to be treated to easily step into the same. In the device which I have used, the cylinder 16 is made about 19 inches in height and 16 inches in diameter, and the cylindrical portion of the outer casing is made about 20 inches in diameter, and of closing it tightly around the neck, and the lower end of this sack is fitted over the upper end of the casing 9, where it is held closely by means of an adjustable band 23. This band is provided with an adjusting bolt or catch 24.- for tightening the same, as will be readily understood from Fig. 4.

l/Vhile the method of treatment may be varied in details, it is substantially as follows: The person to be acted upon is placed in the sack 21 and then steps in through the doors 13 and 20 into the central compartment of the heating apparatus. The doors are then closed and the lower end of the sack is secured around the top of the casing 9. The roller supporting chain are then adjusted to bring the rollers to the desired position, preferably so that they will come in contact with substantially the entire circumference of the body. Current is then supplied to the heating coils 12, which heat the air in the casing 9 to any desired degree of temperature, and such heat is carried up past the inner cylinder 16, so as to thor oughly heat the body of the person, the heat being retained by the sack 21. The rollers roll around the sack or gown, and are caused to press with any desired degree of pressure against the body of a person, so that the body is subjected to heat and massaging action simultaneously. The length of the treatment depends upon the condition of the patient, and may be varied to suit different individuals. In some instances a high degree of heat will be given at the beginning of the treatment, and then the current is turned off, and the massaging action continued for some suitable time after the current has been stopped.

From actual operation it has been demonstrated that my process or method of treatment, which combines thermic and massage treatments simultaneously, is highly efiicient in reducing the weight or size of a person, and such treatment or process is also advantageous where it is desired to increase the circulation, and for various conditions where heat or massage is beneficial.

I do not wish to limit myself to the exact method or apparatu herein described, except as specified in the following claims, in which I claim:

1. The combination with a machine for massaging the body, of an inclosure for inclosing the body of the person to be acted upon, and means for heating the air in the inclosure.

2. The combination with a massage machine, of a casing within which the person to be acted upon stands, means for heating the air in said casing, a sack fitting over the upper end of the casing and the body of the person, and means forprotecting the lower portion of the limbs from the heat in the casmg.

3. The combination with a mamage machine, of a casing arranged on the platform of the machine, an insulating inclosure in said casing, spaced from the outer wall of the casing, means for heating the.air between the casing and the inclosure, a sack or the like adapted to fit over the person to be treated, and a band for fastening the lower end of the sack closely to the upper end of the casing.

4. The combination with a massage ma chine, of a covering adapted to inclose the main portions of a person taking a treatment in the machine, and means for heating the air in said covering.

5. The combination with a massage machine, of a heating device co-acting therewith for heating the person while beingtreated in the machine comprising a receptacle having inner and-outer walls and electric heating elements arranged between said inner and outer walls.

WILLIAM E. BRENNAN.

Witnesses:

R. L. FARR INGTON, E. V. GUSTAFSON. 

